Jeff Leshay

Jeff Leshay brings to clients the wisdom gained from 30 years of unparalleled experience as a master storyteller and executive coach.

Jeff’s unique 360-degree perspective of public communications serves as the basis for his real-world, results-oriented approach to delivering highly effective communications training programs and keynote presentations. He has successfully coached leaders at dozens of Fortune 500 companies and many non-profit organizations, athletes, celebrity chefs, authors, educators, technologists, government officials, and physicians for high-profile media interviews, speaking engagements and investor events.

Since founding Leshay Communications in 2011, and in addition to his executive coaching services, Jeff has often been called upon to speak to corporate groups, trade associations and non-profit organizations on a wide array of media-related issues and strategies, crisis communications, presentation and storytelling skills, and investor communications.

Jeff spent more than a decade of his career as a journalist, starting at The Associated Press and then as an on-air business and consumer correspondent at CNBC and Fox News. He won nine AP broadcasting awards, and his coverage included high-profile stories on business, the financial markets, healthcare, technology, energy, food, manufacturing, the environment, and education.

Later, Jeff served as a senior executive with three of the world’s largest PR firms – Golin, FleishmanHillard and Edelman, and as a communications leader at two public companies – Abbott Laboratories and Career Education Corporation. Jeff and his teams provided communications coaching and strategic counsel in the areas of reputation enhancement, message and story development, issues and crisis management, media relations, investor communications, and employee engagement.

Jeff is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society, a select group of PR and corporate communications leaders from around the world dedicated to strengthening their profession, and the Counselors Academy of the Public Relations Society of America. He is a professional member of the National Speakers Association and has authored two books: “How to Launch Your Career in TV News,” and more recently the TV news and financial thriller, “Dangerous Trades.”

Jeff has served on non-profit education and literacy boards and provided counsel to the Alliance for the Great Lakes, the American Red Cross and Easter Seals.

Jeff holds a Master of Science degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from theUniversity of California, Santa Barbara. At UCSB, he competed on the varsity tennis team, and then spent a few years as a touring and teaching tennis professional in the U.S., France and Germany.